ELEVEN
years after it ceased to be a British colony, English remains the most
important language to master in Hong Kong's business and professional
world, according to new research.
Written English was
rated the most important language skill in a survey of more than 2,0000
ethnic Chinese professionals, followed by the local dialect Cantonese
and then spoken English.
On a scale of one to six, written English was ranked at 5.08 in
importance while Mandarin, the language spoken by the majority of
people in mainland China, was ranked at only 3.79.
More than 90 per cent of respondents in the survey by Hong Kong's
Polytechnic University said they believed both written and spoken
English were as important as ever in their professional lives.
Mandarin has become more important in the past decade, a majority of
interviewees agreed, but most of them said the use of the language in
spoken business communication was infrequent.
English professor Dr Stephen Evans said the findings suggested
English has actually increased in importance in the 11 years since Hong
Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty.
The findings demonstrated that English is the ``default medium of
written communication in the workplace'' he said, in particular in
emails, reports, letters and memos.
The need for good spoken and written English became increasingly
important the more senior a position a professional held in the city of
6.9 million, Dr Evans added.
Businesses complain that English standards have fallen in Hong Kong
since 1997, particularly since a "mother tongue'' teaching policy was
introduced in many schools that previously taught in English.
The policy has resulted in fierce competition for places in
remaining schools teaching in English and a sharp rise in the number of
local children applying to fee-paying international schools.
發表於 2008-11-15 13:28:08
發表於 2008-12-3 13:50:09
